SA Health’s highest earners include 239 on more than $500,000
SA Health individual employee salaries have busted the $900,000-a-year mark as the top paid staff enjoyed a lucrative year.
SA Health individual employee salaries have busted the $900,000-a-year mark as the top paid staff enjoyed a lucrative year.
There were 239 staff on salaries in excess of $500,000 in the year ending June 30, 2018, including the top earner who was listed in the pay band of $899,001 to $909,000.
However, this was behind an employee who was listed as being in the band of $959,001 to $969,000 the previous year — no-one was listed in that band in the latest report.
The remuneration figures include salary, payments made in lieu of leave, superannuation contributions, termination payments, salary sacrifice and fringe benefits.
The total remuneration bill for 3232 high flyers topped $860 million for the year.
This comprised $24 million for 104 executive staff, $24 million for 136 senior non-medical and administrative staff, and $812 million for 2992 senior medical, nursing and operational staff.
The list of top earners includes highly skilled clinicians whose years of training is put to use saving lives and improving quality of patients’ lives on a daily basis.
Additionally, another $3.8 million in pay went to “key management personnel” comprising chief executive Dr Chris McGowan, two deputy chiefs and the six heads of Local Health Networks and SA Ambulance Service.
All staff on paypackets of $500,000 or more were clinicians, apart from Dr McGowan, who earns $550,000 a year.
As well as top earners, the total wages and salary bill for all SA Health employees in 2017-18 was $3.1 billion — the addition of entitlements such as annual leave, long service leave and superannuation pushed the total employees expenses tab to $3.9 billion compared to $3.6 billion the previous year.
The SA Health annual report also shows that 199 staff took voluntary separation packages in the 2017-18 financial year at a cost of $12.4 million.
This was up from 32 people the previous year at a cost of $2.5 million.
A SA Health spokesman noted it employs a workforce of more than 40,000 people.
“Employing and retaining world-class and highly sought after medical practitioners is critical to ensure SA Health continues to deliver quality health services to our community,” the spokesman said.
“Remuneration paid to employees can include termination payments and payments in lieu of leave entitlements (for example long service), salary sacrifice benefits and fringe benefits, in addition to base salary and other entitlements.
“Further to this, some clinicians receive an allowance from SA Health for exercising their rights of private practice and these earnings are also included in their pay.”
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, full-time adult average weekly total earnings in May 2018 was $85,956.